Torrent Fall To Marquette, Missing Key Players

April 30, 2018

By: Bryan Giese

It was known that today’s opponent was going to be a tough challenge for the Torrent. It would be made tougher with key veterans like Drew Ruggles, Andrew Wiedabach, Nemanja Medic, and striker Mark Hutchinson missing the action. The Marquette men brought speed, pressure and plenty of talent with them on Sunday. All of this culminated in a 4:0 win for the Golden Eagles.

Marquette came out and showed their ability to clog the middle of the field. Defensively they moved side to side extremely well as a unit, making things tough on the Torrent. Milwaukee struggled all day with moving the ball consistently into the attacking end of the field, finding very few scoring opportunities in the first half.

Marquette got the board early in the first half after a breakdown defensively by the Torrent. A Torrent defenseman missed on a slide tackle that left the right side of the Torrent backline empty. The Golden Eagles played the ball into the box where it appeared to be played into the net off a Torrent defender for the first tally of the match.

Despite the final result, the Torrent backline played well together as a unit. Biek, Stuart Grable, and Danny Chamale were solid in front of Agustin Rey, who was the victim of a lack of team focus at times. Rey has been an on field, vocal leader, helping to direct the backline since his first day with the team.

SECOND HALF CHANGES BRING POSITIVE RESULTS

The Torrent came out in the second half and played more to their style offensively. They held possession, moved the ball and created chances down the field. They created some early chances with speed and quick passes on the outside, and played some great balls into the middle. Newcomer, Abe Kanneh, and veteran, Isaac Pereyra had chances in the box, but came up empty.

The play of tryout player Alex Stojanovski was a bright spot in an otherwise dark day for the Torrent. Stojanovski was aggressive to the ball, physical and carried his energy up and down the pitch. He showcased today what the coaching staff has been looking for from the players on tryout.

The Torrent have now played Marquette University every preseason. The last time they lost to the Golden Eagles the Torrent went on to win the conference title. With the season starting next weekend, the Torrent look to match that result again this year.